Day 4 - Friday 6 April - The Great Wall

Dream come true time today as we visited the Great Wall of China. Absolutely fantastic (and a real change from the pagodas).

On a bright sunny spring day we were whisked up the mountain to the wall by a ski-lift. We then set-out to walk a part of the Mutianyu Section of the Great Wall - full marks to our guide who avoided the tourist traps at the Badaling section of the wall.

Instead of finding a path along the top, it was a mass of steps of all different levels and inclines which was a bit of a struggle to climb at times (hands and feet) but we managed it. The views were spectacular (even if the wall had not been there) as was the obviously ardent determination to build such a defensive barrier over such as long period of time. I guess the instructions to the workers - build it or die – would have been fairly compelling.

The quick way down was on a toboggan – whee! Brilliant fun.

After another tourist sweet and sour, we went back into Beijing and to the traditional “hutong” area where most of the common people lived. Sadly much of this area has been demolished to build modern high-rise housing and to make way for the Olympics, but the Government has preserved some area for cultural heritage. The rickshaw is a great way travel, a leisurely ride along the old city's historic alleyways - not too fast and plenty of time to look around!

We ended the day with a Fangshan Imperial Banquet, guess what, the restaurant was in a pagoda!